variants
also kaputt
1
as in doomed
facing certain defeat, disaster, or death
once the Germans were forced to retreat from Stalingrad, the Nazi cause was kaput
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in obsolete
having passed its time of use or usefulness
hard-line Soviet-style Communism became kaput in Russia
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in malfunctioning
not being in working order
the heating system went kaput on the coldest day of the year
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of kaput
Now all three of those competitors are kaput, felled by runs on deposits during the biggest banking crisis in a decade and a half.
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Rob Copeland, New York Times, 14 June 2023
The Stooges are now functionally kaput—of the original lineup, only Pop is left.
—Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2019
At least not on Sunday afternoon, nearly a full two days after the Clippers were supposed to be done, finished, as kaput as the Kings – those in Sacramento and Los Angeles.
—Jeff Miller, Orange County Register, 29 Apr. 2017
The damages for that less-than-brilliant marketing idea could be as much as $120 million, meaning the company as a whole is pretty much financially kaput.
—Susan Arendt, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2007
Rob Copeland, New York Times, 14 June 2023
The Stooges are now functionally kaput—of the original lineup, only Pop is left.
—Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2019
At least not on Sunday afternoon, nearly a full two days after the Clippers were supposed to be done, finished, as kaput as the Kings – those in Sacramento and Los Angeles.
—Jeff Miller, Orange County Register, 29 Apr. 2017
The damages for that less-than-brilliant marketing idea could be as much as $120 million, meaning the company as a whole is pretty much financially kaput.
—Susan Arendt, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2007
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kaput
Adjective
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With the capability to create full video from prompts, Sora is going to make all kinds of casting, staging and expensive film operations obsolete.John Werner, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
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The invention of nuclear weapons made this thinking obsolete by making conquest among the great powers impossible.Shane Croucher, Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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This leads him to suspect that his host is a Nosferatu, which is believed to be an archaic Romanian word for vampire.Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 23 Dec. 2024
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Or will ageism and archaic conventions waste that potential?Jonathan Rauch, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Even in a down year, Arenado hit .272 with 16 home runs and 71 RBI.Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 20 Dec. 2024
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Good luck, with Bichette coming off his down year, under club control for only one more season and set to earn $16.5 million in 2025.Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic, 20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Carlos Watson, founder of the defunct digital media company Ozy Media, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for lying to investors about the startup’s finances.Tara Suter, The Hill, 17 Dec. 2024
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This can be supplemented by direct investment in glossy, original short form content, dusting off the playbook from the now defunct Quibi.Paul Pastor, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Perhaps most notably, both sides deploy decoy vehicles—either inoperative derelicts or inflatable fakes—to draw enemy fire away from real vehicles.David Axe, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
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In wartime, however, the calculus changes, because most of the costs are inoperative.William C. Wohlforth, Foreign Affairs, 22 June 2021
Adjective
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The sunk cost fallacy, for example, can lead companies to continue investing in maintaining a physical office space, despite the benefits of remote work.Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, Forbes, 6 Feb. 2023
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The sunk cost fallacy is a bias that behavioral economists say can cause a person to stick with a losing investment.Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 22 Mar. 2022
Adjective
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In recent years, city code and building inspectors have found faulty fire-safety systems and elevators inoperable for months at a time, effectively trapping many elderly and disabled residents inside.Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2024
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Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism Delayed puberty Metastatic mammary cancer (breast cancer): Women with advancing inoperable metastatic (skeletal) mammary cancer who are one to five years postmenopause.Femi Aremu, Verywell Health, 11 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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The powerful earthquake in Northern California last week prompted an endangered fish to get busy The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that rattled a large swath of Northern California likely increased spawning activity in the Devils Hole pupfish in an effort to to protect their population, scientists said.Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024
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The pièce de resistance is a 36-foot, 7-ton octopus weaving its tentacles around endangered species like rhinos and zebras.David Hochman, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Kaput.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kaput. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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